Lieutenant Gov. Sylvia Luke will leave office at the end of her current term after announcing she will not run for reelection.
Luke, who was elected in 2022, announced Sunday afternoon that she has decided not to run for a second term “after a long discussion with [her] family and close friends.”
A spokesperson for Luke told Aloha State Daily that she will take no questions on the matter beyond her brief comments in a statement she released Sunday. That statement alludes to “difficulties” over the past three months that led to her decision.
“But the last three months have been difficult, making the rigors of campaigning exceptionally burdensome for my family,” Luke’s statement read. “While I have always been a fighter, I cannot tolerate the toll that they are paying.”
Luke did not specify what those “difficulties” are. However, on Feb. 9, she told media that she may have been the mystery lawmaker who was recorded accepting a paper bag full of cash during a 2022 dinner.
According to a federal corruption probe, former state Rep. Ty Cullen — having turned FBI informant after being arrested for taking bribes — recorded a transaction at a 2022 dinner where an unnamed “influential legislator” accepted a paper bag full of money from an unidentified man.
In February, Luke said she did not take the bag full of money, but said she had accepted $10,000 in checks from a lobbyist and the lobbyist’s daughter, both of whom were associates of Cullen. She said she attempted to return the money after Cullen was charged and that she had failed to report those donations at the time.
Gov. Josh Green made his own brief statement saying he respects Luke’s decision.
“Sylvia’s service to the State of Hawaiʻi for more than two decades leaves no doubt how much she cares about the people of Hawaiʻi,” read Green’s statement. “These last three years, the LG has made great progress in helping our keiki get access to universal preschool, something that has helped many local families.”
Who will take Luke’s place is an open question. As of April 17, two people have requested nomination forms to be placed on the ballot as a lieutenant governor candidate: Mike Peacock, running as a Democrat, and Ku Lono “Bobby” Cuadra, who has pulled papers to run as a Democrat, Republican and Libertarian, and to run for multiple state and U.S. representative seats. ASD has reached out to Peacock and Cuadra for comment.
Prospective candidates have until June 2 to file nomination papers.
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